ABL 0437 (P334301)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0437 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334301 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Letter |
| Find spot | Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) |
| Coordinates | 36.3582, 43.1621 |
English translation
By ORACC project saao/saa10 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | [To the king], my [lord]: your servant [Mar-Issar]. [Good health] to the king, my lord! May [Nabû and Marduk] bless [the king], my lord! May [the great gods] bestow [long days], well-being and joy upon the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:12] o 55–o 1212 | [Damqî], the son of the prelate of Akka[d], who had ru[led] Assyria, Babylon(ia) [and] all the countries, [di]ed with his queen on the night o[f the xth day as] a substitute for the king, my lord, [and for the sake of the li]fe of Šamaš-šumu-uki[n]. He went to his fate for their redemption. |
| Obverse [12:21] o 1313–o 2121 | We prepared the burial chamber. He and his queen were decorated, treated, displayed, buried and wailed over. The burnt-offering was made, all portents were cancelled, and numerous apotropaic rituals, Bīt rimki and Bīt salā' mê ceremonies, exorcistic rites, penitential psalms and omen litanies were performed to perfection. The king, my lord, should know (this). |
| Obverse [21:33] o 2222– | [I] have heard that before these ceremonies a prophetess had prophesied, saying to the son of the prelate, Damqî: "You will take over the kingship!" The prophetess had also said to him in the assembly of the country: "I have revealed the polecat, the ... of my lord, and placed (him) in your hands." These apotropaic rituals which were performed succeeded well indeed; the king, my lord, can be glad. |
| Reverse [6:9] r 77–r 99 | The inhabitants of Akkad got scared, (but) we gave them heart and they calmed down. Moreover, I have heard that the prelates and delegates of Babylonia got scared, too. |
| Reverse [9:12] r 1010–r 1212 | Bel and Nabû and all the gods have lengthened the days of the king, my lord; still, during the (validity) period of the eclipse and the approach of the gods he may not go into open country. |
| Reverse [12:17] r 1313–r 1717 | If it suits the king, my lord, a common man should, as before, be appointed to the office of the prelate, to present the regular offerings in front of the dais and, on the day of the eššešu-festival and at the "Greeting of the temple" ceremony, to strew (the incense) for the Lady of Akkad on the censer. |
| Reverse [17:24] r 1818– | When [an eclipse] afflicting Babylonia takes place, [he] may serve as a substitute for the king, my lord, and stand [......]. [The ...s] of the king, my lord, would succeed, [......] the people would be calm. |
| Right [0:4] r.e. 24r.e. 24– | Let the king, my lord, appoint in his place anyone [......] who is acceptable to the k[ing, my lord, among] his [...]s, brothers, [and ...s]. |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| o | ||
| 1 | [a-na MAN EN]-ia₂ ARAD-ka {1}[DUMU—{d}15 | |
| 2 | [lu-u DI-mu] a-na MAN EN-ia₂ {[d}PA u {d}AMAR.UTU] | |
| 3 | [a-na MAN] EN-ia₂ lik-ru-bu [UD-me ar-ku-te] | |
| 4 | ⸢ṭu⸣-ub UZU u hu-ud ŠA₃-bi [DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ] | |
| 5 | a-na MAN EN-ia₂ liš-ru-ku {1}[SIG₅-i] | |
| 6 | DUMU {lu₂v}ŠA₃.TAM ša A.GA.[DE₃{ki]} | |
| 7 | ša KUR—aš-šur{ki} KA₂.DINGIR{ki} [u₃] | |
| 8 | KUR.KUR ka-li-ši-na ib-⸢il⸣-[u-ni šu-u] | |
| 9 | u₃ MI₂—E₂.GAL-šu₂ MI₂—E₂.GAL-šu₂ MI ⸢ša⸣ [UD x-KAM₂\t a-na] | |
| 10 | di-na-a-ni ša MAN EN-ia₂ [u₃ a-na ba-laṭ] ⸢ZI-MEŠ⸣ | |
| 11 | ša {1}{d}GIŠ.NU₁₁—MU—GI.[NA im-tu]-tu | |
| 12 | a-na pi-di-šu₂-nu a-na ⸢šim-ti⸣ it-ta-lak | |
| 13 | E₂—KI.MAH E₂—KI.MAH ne₂-ta-pa-aš₂ šu-u MI₂—E₂.GAL-šu₂ MI₂—E₂.GAL-šu₂ | |
| 14 | dam-mu-qu ka-an-nu-u tak-li-ta-šu₂-nu | |
| 15 | kal-lu-mat qa-ab-ru ba-ki-i-u | |
| 16 | šu-ru-up-tu šar-pat GISKIM-MEŠ DU₃-ši-na | |
| 17 | pa-aš₂-ša₂ NAM.BUR₂.BI ma-aʾ-du-te | |
| 18 | E₂—rin-ki E₂—ša₂-la—me-e ne₂-pe-e-še | |
| 19 | ša a-ši-pu-tu₂ ER₂.ŠA₃.HUN.GA₂-MEŠ | |
| 20 | na-qa-ba-a-te ša ṭup-šar-ru-tu₂ | |
| 21 | u₂-sa-li-mu e-tap-šu₂ MAN be-li₂ lu-<u> u₂-di | |
| 22 | [a]-se-me ma-a pa-na-at ne₂-pe-še an-nu-ti | |
| b.e. | ||
| 23 | {⸢mi₂⸣}ra-gi-in-ti tar-tu-gu-mu | |
| 24 | a-na {1}SIG₅-i DUMU {lu₂v}ŠA₃.TAM taq-ṭi-[bi] | |
| 25 | ⸢ma⸣-a LUGAL-u-ti ta-na-aš₂-ši | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [u₃] ra-gi-in-tu ina UKKIN | |
| 2 | ša KUR taq-ṭi-ba-aš₂-šu₂ ma-a ka-ki-šu | |
| 3 | sar-ri-iq-tu₂ ša EN-ia₂ uk-ta-lim | |
| 4 | ina ŠU.2 a-sa-kan-ka NAM.BUR₂.BI | |
| 5 | an-nu-ti ša ep-šu₂-u-ni i-sa-al-mu | |
| 6 | a—dan-niš ŠA₃-bu ša MAN EN-ia₂ lu DUG₃.GA-šu₂ | |
| 7 | {lu₂v}ak-kad-u-a ip-tal-hu ŠA₃ nu-sa-aš₂-kin-šu₂-nu | |
| 8 | it-tu-hu u₃ a-se-me ma-a {lu₂v}ŠA₃.TAM-MEŠ | |
| 9 | {lu₂v}qe-pa-a-ni ša KUR—URI{ki} ip-tal-hu-ma | |
| 10 | EN u {d}PA DINGIR-MEŠ ka-li-šu₂-nu UD-me | |
| 11 | ša MAN EN-ia₂ u₂-⸢sa⸣-ri-ku u₃ ina ŠA₃ du-ri | |
| 12 | AN.MI {d}30 TE-he-⸢e⸣ DINGIR-MEŠ i-ba-aš₂-ši | |
| 13 | a-na ka-qi₂-ri la il-lak šum₂-ma pa-an | |
| 14 | MAN EN-ia₂ ma-hir ki-i ša ina pa-ni-ti | |
| 15 | LU₂ sa-ak-lu a-na {lu₂v}ŠA₃.TAM-u-ti lu-u | |
| 16 | pa-qi-di ina pa-an BARAG gi-nu-u lu-qar-rib | |
| 17 | ina UD EŠ₃.EŠ₃ ina ša₂-lam E₂ ina UGU NIG₂.NA | |
| 18 | [a-na] {⸢d}GAŠAN\t⸣—ak-kad{ki} lis-ru-qu ki-⸢ma⸣ | |
| 19 | [AN.MI] ⸢i⸣-sa-kan\t KUR—URI{ki} il-ta-[pat] | |
| 20 | [šu-u a-na] di-na-ni MAN EN-ia₂ lil-⸢lik⸣ | |
| 21 | [x x x x x x]-uš-šu₂ li-zi-zi [o] | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x] ša MAN EN-ia₂ liš-li-⸢mu⸣ | |
| 23 | [x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ UN-MEŠ lu ne₂-e-[hu] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 24 | [x x x x]-MEŠ-šu₂ ŠEŠ-MEŠ-⸢šu₂⸣ | |
| 25 | [x x x x] ⸢i⸣-ba-aš₂-ši man-[nu] | |
| 26 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ša pa-an ⸢MAN⸣ [EN-ia₂] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | ⸢ma⸣-hir-u-ni ina ku-mu-uš-šu₂ MAN be-li₂ lip-qi-⸢di⸣ | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.